Fried Herring Found

I'm still working on my manifesto, you know local and sustainable, hunting's OK if you eat what you catch, the sage advice from Evil Ronnie, "think yiddish, dress british." One plank will surely be about the value of river and lake fish. Creatures we seldom truly appreciate as we rush off for the next Pantagonian tooth-fish and extra fatty o-toro.

Luckily, in Eastern North Carolina, someone else still cares about real fish (and real pie). Gosh, I wish this place was closer. Check out the nice plate of fried herring.

Cyprus Grill
1244 Brown Rd.
Jamesville, NC
Open only during the herring season!

Rob,

Much as I like freshwater fish (and fishing) and believe in eating local, the state of most waters makes that unadvisable, especially for....... pregnant women, children, women nursing, women thinking of having children.....makes you wonder if, by extension, its safe for anyone.

That said, I like my occasional bit of whitefish, but for some reason prefer it from Canadian waters (Oh, Canada!).

Another fish available in that part of the country, which is delectable and never gets shipped out, is spot. Evil Ronnie, please chime in. A plate of pan-fried spot is quite a thing.

Now you're talkin' Annie,

Summertime in Tidewater, Virginia wouldn't be summer without pan frying up a mess o' spots. Along with the croaker, another fish beloved by coastal Virginians, the spot is a member of the drum family. For those unfamiliar with the spot, they are a sweet, mild, pan sized salt water fish, perfect for dipping in white cornmeal and then pan frying.

We would occasionally have them for Sunday breakfast

Salt (corned) herring and spots are still evident in the area, mostly in the smaller grocery stores. My mother would soak these overnight in milk, before giving them the cornmeal/hot oil treatment.

Another breakfast tradition back home is herring roe and eggs, Small cans of herring roe can still be found, which are sauteed along with a little onion before adding the whipped eggs and scrambling. I try to keep a couple cans around along with my scrapple in the freezer.

I occasionally see croakers at Issacson and Stein.

Annie, if you could have some fried spots now, what would you like to have alongside the fish? I'm thinking coleslaw, stewed tomatoes (made with white bread), and succotash. And a tall glass of iced tea.

ER,

Coleslaw for sure. You know, I was just thinking about stewed tomatoes the other day. I OD'd on them as a kid as my mother craved them during all her pregnancies, but that sounds good. I'd probably substitute butter beans for succotash.